Traditional full-fat cheese products which contain butterfat generally contain from about 15% to about 35% fat, from about 50 mg to about 100 mg cholesterol per 100 g, and from about 300 to about 400 calories per 100 g. This is considered unacceptably high fat and calorie content, by many modern consumers who prefer products which have a substantially reduced fat and reduced calorie content and yet which provide the gustatory and physical properties of conventional butterfat-containing full-fat cheese products.
Imitation cheeses are conventionally manufactured from separate edible components such as casein, calcium caseinate, or sodium caseinate, which are obtained from milk as edible food grade materials. Such imitation cheeses are substantially less expensive than natural cheese, and may be prepared with restricted salt content for persons requiring salt-limited diets. Vegetable oils may be used instead of the more saturated animal fat present in conventional cheese, to provide imitation cheese products having a higher unsaturated fat component and also less cholesterol.
Imitation cheese products which replace casein or caseinates with soy, cottonseed or peanut protein, are inexpensive but have an unpleasant flavor and texture. Various combinations of these replacement substances, including gelatin and carrageenan, e.g. as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,533, have not produced cheese that is, in the opinion of consumers, comparable in taste, texture, meltability, shredability or sliceability to a full fat product. Filled cheese products have been made wherein the butterfat traditionally present in full-fat cheese was replaced with an alternative, less expensive, animal or vegetable fat. This practice became widespread in the early 1940's when advances in processing technology surfaced in, for example, the areas of homogenization and fluid blending. In almost all cases, the filled cheeses are offered at lower cost than their full fat counterparts, which was probably the most important single factor in the initial acceptance of filled dairy foods. Recently, however, with the public's increased awareness of the dangers of cholesterol found in animal fats, filled cheese products wherein the butterfat is replaced with a vegetable fat have gained increased popularity. The term "animal fats" as used herein encompass the fats derived from dairy, fish, or meat sources.
Imitation cheeses are generally made utilizing as a protein source either aged or non-aged low-fat cheese, vegetable-derived protein such as soy or soy isolate, or commercially available dry-powdered protein derived from fresh, whole or skim milk, buttermilk, cream, or sodium calcium caseinate. A synthetic cheese utilizing skim milk cheese, a type of non-aged low-fat cheese, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,604,504. Synthetic cheeses using proteinaceous materials derived from vegetable sources are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,533.
The edible vegetable triglycerides conventionally used in imitation cheese products to simulate the butterfat inherently contained in traditional full-fat cheese are more healthy for human consumption than butterfat or animal fat, particularly because these fats are higher in unsaturates and contain no cholesterol. However, there is no reduction in calories because, gram-for-gram, these two types of fats are of equivalent caloric content.
For consumer acceptance there is a need for the characteristics conferred on full-fat cheese by butterfat and in filled cheese by animal or, preferably, vegetable, fat, to be supplied by a fatty substance which is low-calorie. Use of a non-digestible, or partially digestible, fat substitute lower in net caloric content as compared to regular fat is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,061,503 and 5,061,504.